


Make Your Peace

by Joyd



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki Gift Exchange 2018, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Buddhism, Buddhist Imagery, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 06:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17177267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joyd/pseuds/Joyd
Summary: “I’m sorry, I thought I’d have more time to explain, but after you went off and helped Kakashi, we’ve run out. So go, Obito! You have to GO!”Another, harder push just as he was opening his mouth to demand an explanation had him tripping back, arms pinwheeling as he found himself stumbling back passed a line of bamboo. Rin’s sad smile and farewell wave were the last things he saw before the bamboo swallowed him up.—If Obito thinks he’s gonna just get a free pass to the Pure Lands after all the shit he’s done, he’s got another thing coming. Rin ensures he doesn’t get drop kicked into the Yomi, but he’s gonna have to work for it if he wants to avoid it when he dies For Real.With a pinch of Hashirama and Madara being a weird parody of Datsue-ba and Keneō, entirely unintentionally.Gift for blackkat for the Akatsuki Gift Exchange!





	1. 6 Mon For the Ferryman

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackkat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/gifts).



> I have so many more ideas for this universe than I expected, and had to trim away at these two chapters to make them more manageable. 
> 
> I’m sorry it took so long, Kat! Holidays, y’know? :/  
> I hope you like it! I tried to explain the events without _explaining_ , so I hope it makes sense!  
> Happy holidays!!!

The entire situation was confusing from the very start, with finally meeting Rin on the other side just to have her _push him right back out_ , telling him to “fix things”. Not exactly the rest he was hoping to finally find, or the chance to apologize to everyone he’d wronged, though he supposes all of his expectations and hopes were really banking on finding himself in the Pure Lands. He should really know better by now than to think anything will meet his expectations, and probably _should_ have expected to come face to face with Datsue-ba after leaving Kakashi and his team.

Instead, he found Rin waiting in that empty white void again, and proving he really hadn’t learned anything in his last few hours-days-weeks of life, he saw nothing strange about that. Accepting things at face value is what got him into this entire mess, and _yet_. He’d barely stepped forward to greet her before she’d smiled at him sadly, moving forward in what he thought was a hug, only to have her rest one small, child hand on his equally small shoulder -and gods but he’d forgotten how _young_ they’d been when the Kanabi Bridge disaster happened-, the other over his mouth.

“Sorry, Obito, but they can’t know you’re here, so just hold on okay?” Her voice was kind, but he could see the seriousness in her eyes, had clicked his teeth together and held his questions on “they” and “here”. “You can’t be here, Obito, not yet. Not after… after everything you’ve done, even though you helped at the end.”

He hoped his eyes could properly convey his confusion, all the questions he was holding back with a clenched jaw and his respect for her alone. Her smile said she saw them, but she didn’t answer, just looked over her shoulder and bit her lip, the corners of her mouth quickly dipping into a frown. If he strained his ears, he thought he could hear distant thunder and human voices crying and yelling, but after the chaos of the Fourth Shinobi War he couldn’t say if he actually heard those things, or was just hearing echos like a ringing in his ears.

“You need to go, before they notice you’re here. You need to go and fix things, make things better so you don’t end up in the Yomi.” She moved her hand from his mouth to his other shoulder, pushing him back gently. “I’m sorry, I thought I’d have more time to explain, but after you went off and helped Kakashi, we’ve run out. So go, Obito! You have to _GO_!”

Another, harder push just as he was opening his mouth to demand an explanation had him tripping back, arms pinwheeling as he found himself stumbling back passed a line of bamboo. Rin’s sad smile and farewell wave were the last things he saw before the bamboo swallowed him up. The line of the forest disappeared in an instant, where once there was open space on the other side, now there were only more stalks of green as far as he could see. He didn’t stick around to see if something was coming, turning and taking off in the direction Rin had pushed him, questions spinning endlessly through his mind. So he runs, faster than he had in the years since mastering Kamui, but well able to think on the move, to go over what little information he had repeatedly even as he darted between the stalks of bamboo, the distant sounds of thunder and mournful wailing long gone to be swallowed up by the silence of the forest. He doesn’t stop running even when no sounds of pursuit reach him, kept moving forward even when he had to shove stalks of bamboo out of his way or leap over fallen limbs. In the end, he had no idea how much time passed like that, eyes only on the forest ahead of him even when he thinks he catches blue-black shadows moving through the greenery from the corner of his eye.

It wasn’t until he burst into open space with a wide, lazy river before him and a forest of tall oak trees on the opposite bank, that he even realized the bamboo had ended. The air was thick with fog, like standing inside of a cloud, but suddenly he could hear distant bird song and the croaking of tree frogs, muffled as if they were far ahead, but still there where before there had been nothing but the pounding of his steps and the blood rushing in his ears. He stood there, staring at the distant bank uncomprehendingly, for a long moment, just listening to the sounds of _life_ ahead of him until the sound of someone clearing their throat close by jolted him back into reality but right out of his skin.

He whipped around only to find _Madara_ standing where there’d been only open air when he broke the treeline, watching him more patiently than Obito could ever remember the old man being in life. He must have seen Obito getting ready to yell because he quickly held up a hand, halting him effectively even as he brought his other hand up to his mouth, one finger before his lips in an obvious gesture for silence.

“You’re still not completely safe just yet, Obito, don’t ruin it by opening your mouth now.” Madara’s voice was smoother, calmer than Obito had ever heard it, in the cave or during his momentary resurrection, and he was suddenly struck with the realization that this Madara was younger than he’d ever seen the man, possibly younger than Obito himself. “Gawk all you like, but this is important so listen well. This river is the only thing separating you from the Living World now, but souls aren’t meant to cross from this bank to that. We’re at an emptier section of the Sanzu, so there’s no need to worry about any souls trying to drag you under or oni throwing stones, but the river itself is just as dangerous. You can cross with chakra, but don’t stop, not even for a moment, or the crabs and serpents will drag you under.”

That might be the most Obito had ever heard Madara speak outside of a Villainous Monologue, but he made himself focus on the words rather than who was saying them. The Sanzu, that was either some vicious irony or he wasn’t too far off his mark with his earlier griping about expecting Datsue-ba. He turned his eyes to the river, eying the stillness mistrustfully now that he knew just what lay before him. The waters were dark, hiding their depths with the shimmering reflection of the sky above them, not even fish or bugs breaking the flat illusion of peace. Oddly, he found himself trusting what Madara told him, even though his anger for everything he’d been put through by the man was bubbling up his throat and threatening to burst out just thinking about it. In this, at least, the evidence was very clearly before him; a still river separating the deathly silence of the bamboo forest from the distant sound of birdsong and the rustling of leaves in the wind, life distantly before him with death and all it’s many punishments looming behind.

He felt Madara come up beside him and turn to look at the river as well, clenched his hands into tight fists to keep from saying anything. Standing still after so long running made it all too obvious just how out of breath he’d been, his heart rate still calming down from the adrenaline fueled rush of earlier. He knew he needed to move forward, but he also didn’t know _why_ , had only Rin’s warning about the Yomi to fuel his flight and Madara’s warning about the Sanzu itself to make him cautious of the way forward.

His musing ended rather abruptly when a large hand landed on his shoulder, the shoulder _opposite_ Madara, and he whipped around again, finding himself looking at a broad chest covered in red plate armor. He barely had time to look up and register just who he was looking at before Madara spoke up behind him.

“Hashirama, late as usual. Got lost on the road of life again, I expect?” For such a simple sentence, the depths of exasperation in Madara’s voice were pretty staggering, and that Hashirama apparently used one of Obito’s own old excuses would have floored him if not for the Shodaime’s hand still on his shoulder steadying him.

“Now now, Madara, I ran into some trouble is all! We’ve got to get Obito-kun here moving quickly, you know we can only stall them for so long!” Even in death, in a place Obito would never have expected Hashirama to end up, the man was perfectly chipper, smile wide and eyes fond as he looked from one Uchiha to the other. “Madara explained about the Sanzu, yes? Great! You’ll need to get moving, we’ll guard your back so don’t stop moving until you’re into the trees, alright?”

The distant sound of thunder had returned, only now it was quite a bit closer, but Obito didn’t get a chance to look and see what was coming before both the Founders were giving him a shove down to the edge of the water, backs to him as they faced the bamboo. Obito spared a quick look back before swallowing his confusion and fears, concentrating only on the chakra on the bottom of his feet as he raced out onto the water. He heard the distant sound of metal meeting metal, but kept his eyes firmly on the trees before him.

The shadows from the bamboo were back again, darting across the water like dragonflies alongside him or ahead, meeting the shadows of things under the water and drawing them away. The bank on the living side of the river was fast approaching even as he caught the churning of something massive in the water off to his right, a hint of scales and static lightning before it was hidden by the dark waters again. He lunged forward when the grassy shore was within reach, pulling Kamui around himself like a shroud just as a massive eel shot up from the water, coming at him teeth first but passing right through. His meeting with solid earth was less than graceful, tumbling end over end onto lush grass before scrambling upright, memories of clumsily dodging attacks from Kakashi during spars lingering at the forefront of his thoughts, made all the stronger by the smell of ozone and the way his hair felt like it was standing on end from the static.

The eel hadn’t given up just because its prey was on solid ground, continuing to lunge after him as much as it could until finally, finally he reached the edge of safety in the shadow of the trees. He threw one last look over his shoulder even as he jumped over a bush and into the forest, catching sight of the distant figures of Madara and Hashirama fighting something _massive_ and bone white.

Then, the forest swallowed him up, and everything went dark.


	2. An Alternate Route

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second verse, better than the first

Obito burst out of the trees with a laugh, landing in the clearing of Training Ground Three and immediately dodging right to avoid a brace of shuriken, rolling with the momentum as Naruto yelled in frustration behind him. Sasuke was there a moment later, Sharingan blazing as he directed a Grand Fireball at Obito’s face just to have him pass through both it and _him_ , leaving the younger Uchiha yelping while Obito disappeared into the trees again, Naruto hot on his heels. Sakura and Kisame ignored them all as they trained at the posts, the swordsman showing her how to redirect her momentum with a large weapon like her warhammer or the massive axe leaning against the third post.

It had taken surprisingly little convincing to bring the man to Konoha, both on his part and getting the Hokage to agree, but Minato had been so elated to see Obito _alive_ that, when he’d proposed peace talks and an “ambassador exchange” a few months after returning, the man had jumped on it. _Kushina_ had been significantly more leery of having anything to do with Kirigakure -for good reason, between what they’d done to Uzushirogakure and Madara’s manipulations with Rin-, but with the success rate of Obito’s other suggestions being so high, she’d agreed to give it a shot. Now, eleven years of peace with Kiri later, she and Kisame got on like a house on fire, regularly destroying training grounds and completing missions together with a success rate that was, frankly, a little terrifying. Yagura turned out to be a surprisingly reasonable Mizukage when he wasn’t being controlled by the Mangekyou, and after five years in power, with Kisame not returning to Kiri for so much as a visit, had graciously released him from his vows to the Mist so he could fully immigrant to Konoha.

Obito could admit, at least to himself, to being outrageously pleased with the turn of events. He had been struggling with the impulse to _force_ the decision for years by that point, so to have things happen the way he wanted without any actual manipulation on his part was… satisfying.

Now, eleven years after returning from the dead in a timeline with no Madara, Zetsu dead by his hand and the Gedo Mazu _thoroughly_ destroyed, he could admit to being happy where he was. Co-sensei to Team Seven -a responsibility shared with his own team, though Rin had a shift at the hospital and Kakashi was off on a mission at the moment- to keep the Yondaime’s son, Tsunade’s apprentice, and the heir of the Uchiha clan out of trouble, a respected diplomatic ambassador for the village, and working towards a _true peace_. He was happier than he would have ever thought possible, even as a naively optimistic, thirteen year old chuunin. He couldn’t even remember being that boy now, two lifetimes and a timeline removed, but he thinks that Obito would be proud of where he is now, even if he hated the road he’d taken to get here.

He flung himself around a tree, doing a sharp u-turn and leapfrogging over Naruto’s head, shoving the blond face first into a bush with an offended squawk. Sasuke couldn’t stop in time and tripped over the flailing blond, destabilized further by Obito donkey kicking him in the back to send him sprawling into the bush with his teammate. He left the genin shouting in a tangle of limbs, cackling as he took to the trees and darted away. It took no time at all to leave a false trail and Kamui back to the clearing, flinging himself over Kisame’s shoulders to catch his breath even as he grinned and planted a kiss on the tall man’s cheek.

“How’s it going over here? Figuring it out, Sakura-chan?” His voice was a bit raspy from breathing hard, so he cleared it even as he pawed at Kisame’s belt for his flask to steal a drink of water.

“It’s great! I think I’ll stick to taijutsu for the most part, but this is really fun, so it’ll make a good backup if I need it!” Sakura’s reply was bright, if winded, her eyes focused on her target even as she brought the hammer around in a wide circle to smash into the abused wood. It splintered a bit under the force of the blow, making Kisame let out a whoop of delight at her success. “Incoming!”

Her warning prompted Kisame to duck while Obito launched himself over their heads, springing off the post before them with one hand and pushing off again even as Sasuke threw himself kunai first at Obito’s previous position. Naruto came from the side with a battle cry a moment later, rasengan in one hand aimed right at the spot Obito landed, only to get a faceful of oak as a sapling burst from the ground. Kakashi and Obito were still trying to train him out of his penchant for yelling while attacking, but so far not even getting up close and personal with a briar bush had taught him not to give himself away.

Sasuke moved to duck around his sprawled teammate and the small tree to chase down his cousin, face twisted in frustration, only for Kisame to snag him by the back of his shirt and fling him into to trees at the far end of the field. Obito gave a victorious laugh, spun back around to leave a smacking kiss on the man’s lips, and took off in the opposite direction of where Sasuke was thrown. He’d give the boys another fifteen minutes to try and catch him before he led them into his Mokuton trap, by then they’d be plenty tired enough to give up and Sakura’d be more than ready for lunch.

He could hear her and Kisame’s laughter even as he slipped back into the trees and ran off toward a nearby pond, undoubtedly at whatever complaints the boys voiced at the two of them helping him. They should know by now to expect it, so he didn’t feel bad about grinning as well. They may not be the kids who saved him, brought him back to _himself_ at the end of things, who he helped defeat a goddess, but they’re _his_ in a way that other Team Seven could never be. They’re his and he’s going to make damn sure they come out of things as whole and undamaged as the other versions never had a chance at.

Kakashi, Rin, Minato and Kushina are there, _Kisame_ is there, beside him and helping keep him on track even when he thinks he’ll fail and falter, fall back into that horrid, bleak mindset that was only ever good for manipulating and being manipulated. Those precious people he lost or never even realized he had, they’re the only reason he’s made it as far as he has. His peace, the peace he’s helped the _real_ Akatsuki build and maintain between the villages, the peace he’s ensured neither Zetsu nor Danzo could endanger, is only as strong as it is because they’ve helped him.

And if, perhaps, he’d spun some tales, been less than entirely honest with everyone, it was only because no one would ever believe his tales of that other timeline. A Moon Goddess sealed by the Sage of Six Paths, the Rinnegan borne from the mixing of Uchiha and Senju genes, reincarnated chakra imprints? No, he hasn’t shared those stories with Konoha or his teams, because he _knows_ it sounds like madness, would make anyone and everyone think the Uchiha Madness had caught up with him.

So he may have lied, told a story to excuse his three year disappearance after the Kanabi bridge mission, when he was working on fulfilling Rin’s request of him. The only one who knows the truth of his situation, if not the full scope of his crimes in his original timeline, is Kisame. Obito may have recruited and used the Akatsuki based on how useful they would be to him, but he knew and respected how important the truth was to the swordsman. It had played a large part in convincing Kisame to go along with Obito’s plans for peace between Konoha and Kiri, as well as getting Kisame himself to play the role of ambassador. Obito’s story, and exposing Fuguki as a traitor to the fiercely loyal man. The Mizukage had certainly been more willing to see Obito after he’d exposed the large man’s information leaking, letting him stay in the village peacefully without informing Konoha.

He’d liked Kisame, back in that other timeline, and had genuinely mourned the man when he’d died. This new life meant a Kisame who wasn’t as bitter and disillusioned, whose village didn’t carry the moniker of the Bloody Mist into the Yondaime’s reign, and who hadn’t been tricked into killing his comrades by his traitorous commanding officer. Obito found himself seeking out the other man frequently when he was in Kiri, genuinely enjoying his company in a way he’d never really been able to as the shadowy leader of Akatsuki.

It had taken him nearly _two years_ to realize he’d developed a crush on Kisame, stronger than the feelings he’d ever had for Rin. He was far enough removed from those days to understand the crush he’d had on her had been shallow, based on how she’d been so kind and his first friend, rather than any true romantic feelings. This though, these feelings for Kisame, had been so gradual a thing that it’d taken him ages to notice. And once he had, he’d panicked and run off to the Land of _Snow_ for a few months, ostensibly to deal with Kazahana Dotō.

Eight years later he could admit he’d been hiding.

When he’d finally gotten over his panic, he’d returned to Kirigakure and found a thoroughly pissed Terumi Mei waiting, who demanded he make up with Kisame _or else_. He hadn’t asked what that entailed, and the younger teen hadn’t specified, but she got her point across well and he’d run off to find the swordsman. That was when he’d decided to really explain his situation to Kisame, because if he didn’t believe him - _forgive him_ \- then there was no way Obito could act on his feelings.

This Kisame wasn’t the used and abused _weapon_ his counterpart had been, and was able to listen to Obito’s tales of that other version of himself from the removed view of someone who _never would_. He’d remained mostly silent, asking for clarification only twice, and held his silence even after Obito finished. He remained silent so long that when he finally did speak, Obito had wound himself up so much he’d startled badly enough that he’d activated Kamui and dropped through his seat.

Once Kisame had stopped laughing at him and Obito’d managed to disentangle himself from his chair, he’d declared he’d like to help Obito build a world of True Peace, where things like what had happened to the Other Kisame would never happen again. Obito may or may not have melted with both relief and carefully hidden delight. It was nice to have someone else know about him, but that it was _Kisame_ was a kind of relief that filled him with indescribable warmth.

When his genin’s fifteen minutes were up, he abruptly changed direction, leading their merry chase away from the pond and back towards the field. When he’d reached a good patch of bushes he jumped down from the trees and slipped around the base of one. Sasuke and Naruto came crashing through the branches a moment later, leaving Obito plenty of time to reach out to the trees and bushes. Between one second and the next a thick branch shifted out from under foot and dropped the both of them into the bushes, which quickly surged up to wrap around both of them despite their flailing and curses.

“Okay boys, time for lunch!” He stepped out from behind the tree as he spoke, grinning brilliantly with his hands planted on his hips. The two of them sagged in relief, letting the bushes take their weight as they panted and groaned. “Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad! I didn’t even fight back!”

Naruto was the first to find enough air to respond, still sprawled over both the bush and Sasuke, “We’ve been chasing you for _HOURS_ , sensei!”

Sasuke grunted in agreement, face down in the bush with branches and leaves caught in the back of his hair. Whether he was so out of breath he couldn’t speak, or was just reverting to the usual teenage Uchiha grunts was a toss up. Either way he reached up to swat weakly at Naruto where the blond was pinning his legs, so Obito took pity on them and reached out to help untangle them.

“Fine fine, but this just means you’re both going to have to work more on your stamina. No way I should be able to outlast you two, you’re younger than me!” He resolutely didn’t acknowledge that he didn’t actually need to breathe, what with the Mokuton and everything. They didn’t know about that, so they couldn’t call him out for technically cheating, though Naruto at least loudly protested his standards and the extra training, “C’mon, let’s go get the others and get some food.”

They slumped against each other once they’d been extracted from the brush, tiredly dusting themselves off as they started back toward the field. Obito reached out and plucked a twig from Sasuke’s hair as they walked by, chuckling to himself as he followed. They’d likely need a moment of rest once they reached the clearing, but that was fine, they’d be able to clean up a bit before inflicting themselves on the civilian population.

As they re-entered the field, Kisame glanced over at them from where he and Sakura were talking, her weapons tucked away in a storage scroll already. Obito grinned and waved over the boys’ heads, feeling his heart flutter happily when Kisame grinned back. Sakura peeked around him and laughed at the sight of the boys, jogging over to meet them and leaning on her knees to look down at them when they flopped into the grass. They talked cheerfully as she picked the rest of the leaves and such from their hair and clothes, ignoring the adults as Obito walked over to Kisame.

“Lunch time! How’s Yakiniku sound?” He relaxed with his hands in his pockets before the swordsman, unable to stop the soft smile turning up the corners of his lips as he looked up at his Partner. He could never stop it, or the happy fluttering and spread of warmth when Kisame leaned down to return the kiss he’d stolen earlier, this one softer and much less hurried.

His eye fluttered open when Kisame pulled back, his answering smile just as soft despite showing many more teeth, “Sounds like a date.”

Obito ignored the obligatory fake gagging from the kids behind them, reaching out to snag Kisame’s hand and lace their fingers together. He opened Kamui and ducked partially into it, dragging Kisame along even as he turned and stuck his tongue out at the kids, “Last one there pays for everyone!”

Kamui shut on the sound of offended squawking from the kids and Kisame’s loud laughter, muffled only by Obito catching him in a substantially longer kiss. They had a head start, after all, so they may as well use it well.


End file.
